A picture taken yesterday morning: the torture tree has lost the last of its leaves. Winter is officially upon us. (Here‘s how it looked in September.)

We’ve harvested the last of the perbs, with two exceptions. We’ve left the thyme, hoping it might survive a while longer in its oversized pot, and we’ve brought the basil inside (though I doubt it’ll last, even indoors, so we’ll harvest that soon for one final salad extravaganza).

We’ve also taken steps to ensure our winter supply:

We’re trying to sprout and support basil, parsley, marjoram, thyme, sage, chives, and marjoram. In other words, all the stuff we had on the deck, except the dill. Turns out, neither of us are big fans. We have oregano growing in the front garden, but neither of us is particularly keen on scampering out there first thing in the morning in robe and slippers to cut oregano to go on the omelette. So now get to get to grow some indoors, too. The first sprouts will appear in three or four days, I think, but we won’t be able to harvest for a while.

In regard to your outdoor herbs, have you read '1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus'? In a section on south America it posits that some indigenous peoples in South America greatly increased the land's carrying capacity by putting charcoal in the soil. As an experiment, someone tried it. In the experiment, no increase in return was noted in the first year, but that by the third year, the carrying capacity had tripled. I had tried putting ash in my soil at the condo, but apparently charcoal works better. I'm going to try it in my garden soil next year providing having a fire going doesn't freak out my dog.

@ Nicola — It's got some fascinating ideas in it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I know some of the the theories sound far-fetched (and I know some of my old archaeology buddies are probably skeptical), but some of them make a lot of sense. I've always thought that a lot of archaeologists don't give native peoples enough credit in the brains department. Sometimes, the simplest explanation is too simple to be realistic where humans are concerned.

Speaking of which, are you interested in the debate as to how early people got to the Americas? Dennis Stanford et. al. have a new book out – PaleoAmerican Origins: Beyond Clovis. I've asked my library to order a copy so I haven't read it yet, but I'm assuming that Stanford talks about the evidence for paleo folks coming over the Atlantic. Should be an amazing read.